As 19 strikingly dressed children ran to the strange, introduced themselves and began singing praises to God, their audience knew they were about to be blessed.
In a recent spirit-filled concert at Valleydale Baptist Church, Birmingham, World Help’s Children of the World international children’s choir raised awareness of the needs of disadvantaged children worldwide. Through personal testimonies, video clips and worship songs in English and their native tongues, the children touched the hearts of everyone in attendance.
Two years ago, many of the same children performed at the Shelby Association church and left a lasting impression on everyone there.
“Fifty years from now, it will not matter what kind of cars you drove, what kind of house you lived in, how much you had in your bank account or even what your clothes looked like,” said Brad Kellum, choir director. “But the world may be a little better because you were important in the life of one little child. Folks, you are looking at our legacy.”
Working in more than 50 countries, World Help found that more than 200 million children suffer from hunger and 35,000 die each day because of lack of food while 25 million have no place to call home.
To generate compassion for needy children around the world and to encourage involvement in the World Help Child Sponsorship Program, the choir spends 10 months of the year traveling across America and performing more than 150 concerts before returning to orphanages in their homelands.
The all-Christian choir is composed of orphaned and underprivileged five- to 12-year-old children from Nepal, Burma, India, Uganda and the Philippines. Several of them lost their parents to sickness, disease and tribal wars. Some saw their parents murdered.
Through their life experiences, each member understands the significance of representing thousands of the world’s disadvantaged children and the importance of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“When I look at these children, I see pastors and missionaries, doctors and nurses,” Kellum said.
According to the testimony of a 12-year-old girl from India named Elizabeth, the children not only minister in their performances but also through their daily contact with others.
At an airport a man who wanted to know about the group approached Elizabeth. After telling him they were a choir that spreads the word of Jesus, she found he was not saved and immediately began ministering to him. Thirty minutes later, he accepted Christ into his heart.
“I am happy that I can tell somebody about Jesus,” she said. “It is important that we sing because we can touch people’s hearts who never heard of Jesus before.”
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